D-TWELVE Lamp by Plato Design

January 10, 2016

The Rome based design startup Plato Design have just presented D-TWELVE Lamp, a modular, versatile and customizable handmade LED lamp, on Kickstarter. Facing the difficulty of personalizing what designers have drawn, the two Italian architects created a LED lighting system to suit people’s need to find something unique and precious at the same time. The lamp can be reshaped according to the changing light needs thanks to the modules magnetic connections. Let’s talk about it today!

Plato Design is a design startup based in Rome, Italy, founded by Alessandro Mattei and Caterina Naglieri, both architects. Alessandro and Caterina previously worked in several European cities dealing with construction industry, interior design and academic research. In 2015 they decided to return to Rome and start the new adventure of running their own business. The company was awarded the Regione Lazio Fund for Creativity for the D-TWELVE lamp project. At Plato Design things are invented, prototyped and handmade, merging clear design with technological innovation and unique “made in Italy” handicraft.

Each D-TWELVE module is dodecahedron-shaped and has three magnetized sides that allow the connection and the passage of current from one to another. Thanks to this solution, just one of the modules needs to be connected to the power grid, what is a benefit.

The magnets’ radial arrangement makes the modules snap-in rotatable so the light can be easily directed as one wishes. Indeed D-TWELVE is sized to perfectly fit in to one’s hand and is completely safe to touch, due to the extra-low voltage current.

With less than 5 watts per module D-TWELVE is a high energy efficient lamp and unlike many lamps on the market, the LED can be easily replaced just by opening the acrylic glass and unscrewing it (even if the estimated LED life is 50000 hours!). When the lamp is turned on, the holes on the back ensure heat dissipation.

In addition to the attention to technological innovation, the lamp design is based on high quality materials manufacturing. It is available in beechwood, screen-printed fabric and concrete. The wood used is European Beech wood. After CNC cutting, it is assembled by hand and polished with a natural benzene-free hardwax-oil. The concrete cover is provided by a team of engineers experts on ultra- thin concrete furniture.

The screen-printed fabric is designed by a textile design firm with more than ten years experience in fashion accessories production.